Walsall, Sandwell and Telford are the disability hotspots of the West Midlands, with one in eight people claiming benefits.

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New figures show how the number of people claiming Personal Independence Payments (Pip) in the West Midlands have near-doubled since the outbreak of coronavirus, with thousands of new claimants across the region.

But they also show significant regional variations in both the number of people claiming the benefit, and how the rate has increased.

Pip provides financial support to people with long-term disabilities or health conditions, and unlike some other benefits, is available to people in work. The Government's Welfare Reform Bill had originally proposed to tighten the criteria for the payments, but has now been delayed until next year pending a review.

Breaking the figures down by local authority, Sandwell had the highest number of claimants in our region, with 27,129 in receipt of the benefit - a rise of 80 per cent compared to January 2019, when the figure stood at 15,072.

More significantly, the claim rate per 1,000 people stood at 123.68, meaning just under one in eight people are now claiming the benefit, compared to 70.43 in January 2014, or one in 14.

However, the highest claim rate in the........

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